TPCC general secretary B. Mahesh Kumar Goud has urged the government to heed the demand of the farmers and release water from Sri Ram Sagar Project for paddy transplantation and other kharif activities in the ayacut.
He told reporters here on Sunday that it was undemocratic on the part of the government to resort to lathicharge when farmers asked for just 0.40 tmcf of water when reservoir contains 16 tmcf. “When Congress party was in power it released water even when there was 9 tmcf,” he said.
He demanded that Singur reservoir water be exclusively allocated for the farmers of erstwhile undivided district instead of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. He said paddy transplantation was not yet complete under Nizam Sagar Project ayacut due to insufficient rainfall and lack of water.
Mr. Mahesh Goud accused Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao of setting a new tradition in the 80 year history of NSP by diverting 13 tmcf Singur water to Mid Manair via NSP and SRSP for the use of people of Sircilla and Siddipet at the cost of the interests of district farmers. The TRS leaders plundered water on which the district farmers had exclusive rights.
He said elected representatives including Agriculture Minister P. Srinivas Reddy of the district were shockingly silent when Mr. Harish Rao made it clear that SRSP water could not be given to farmers in a meeting held in Hyderabad on Saturday. He said that farmers would give a fitting lesson to the government if they were denied their rightful dues.
